An Imperial Affliction - A Short Story
by 14.5thtriparoundthesun
Summary: A story based on John Green's The Fault in Out Stars imagined book, An Imperial Affliction. About Cancer. For a friend. #ITried #SorryIfYouThinkImShallow
1. Prologue

Prologue

_My name is Anna Hudson. I live in a central California town with a one-eyed professional gardener obsessed with tulips. I have Recnacdo Ol' Berara, an extremely rare and deadly blood cancer. If the professional men in the hospital are correct, my life shall end in four years._

I groaned at this ridiculous beginning of this essay I wrote three years ago, when I was still in school. Seriously? Introduce yourself? Pointless. I know it was the beginning of the school year and I was supposed to let the class know who Anna Hudson was, but 'knowing someone' is a _result_ of spending time with one another, not a shitty essay with red crosses on grammatical mistakes and misspelled words (and the annoying fact that Mrs Charlesworth disapproves of my precise description of my mother in a nutshell).

I do miss school though. No, never would I miss the studying and getting stuck in the classroom for 10 hours, but my friends. I miss Claire. I miss Jake. And all my classmates. Occasionally, teachers, too, but some of them are rather mean UNTIL they find out that you are dying.

This, my friend, is the plus side of getting cancer. The perks you get, the things you get to do and run away with, the life different from others, the unique point of view you have… All these are side effects of cancer. The _good_ side effects, to be more precise. The _bad _side, though, is certainly peculiarity and death. You can never be normal again. This is not a 'there and back again' adventure. This is a one-way road. And you can see the end nearing you every moment. The end of the road. A curious entrance to the place people call 'Heaven'.

In spite of all these, I tend to keep myself optimistic. All lives end one day, and the only, slight difference is the mere distance of the road. The more important thing is to make this road worthy of walking. The main point of life is not that you have left, but that you have been here and did something so that people shall forever remember your existence and greatness that dwell within.

That is why I decided to set up the Anna Foundation for People with Cancer who Want to Cure Cholera.


	2. Ch1

Chapter One

Every conversation with my mother begins with a twitch of the eyebrow and a worried frown from her, with an "Is everything alright, dear?" or "Are you okay?". I was rather unhappy about this, because through this I can see that the only thing which troubled my mother is me. I have seen her alone in the garden with her beloved flowers before. That night, I woke from one of those tripping-and-falling-awake-with-a-jerk dreams and looked out from the bedroom window. I saw her lying on the grass, eyes fixed on the shimmering worlds that lie forever beyond humans' reach. Above her was darkness crowned with shiny white stars, and oh did she look young. She was different from the way she usually was. She was smiling. My mother was smiling. And her one good eye twinkled the way I've never seen it twinkle before, not since Recnacdo Ol' Berara changed my life – and hers. That night, I realized that my illness did not only affect me, but the people around me too.

"Honey, what's the matter? You okay?" Just like I said.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine, Mom. See, I got this idea: Why don't I set up a foundation for cancer patients who wants to help cholera patients? It seems that this will actually work! Cancer patients, as you can see- "

"Why don't you," she cut me off, "worry about yourself first? Your next check-up is within the hour. You should go pack your stuff. I'll drive you there."

End of conversation. Duh!

I had expected that to happen, I really did. I went up the stairs to my room and closed the door. Sisyphus was there, waiting for me.

I put the hamster into the ball, one of those big, transparent ones which allow the little guy to run around the house. _Sisyphus, _I recalled, _the king to forever be worthlessly burdened with the boulder._ I still find it funny how I chose to give the name to the thing _inside_ the sphere instead. Perhaps I wanted to show King Sisyphus a jollier way to handle the boulder. Who knows? Sometimes I don't understand myself either.

I changed into my favourite light blue tee and dark jeans. I do not look 'gorgeous', but I feel absolutely great when I'm in these clothes. They're so…me. Is that confidence or narcissism? With this question loitering in my mind like a hamster in a plastic ball, I slipped on my red Chuck Taylors and trotted down the stairs.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, imagine my surprise when I found my mother chatting with a man. The man was apparently not my father nor was it any of the familiar people in the neighbourhood. He was a redhead, with thick, fluffy beard. He was okay tall, rather stout, not very handsome, and kinda reminded me of Gloin the dwarf from the Tolkien series. I'm not saying that Gloin is ugly but in my humble opinion, humans (or, preferably, _modern man_) should NOT look like hairy dwarves.

"Anna, dear, come!" My mother said. "This is Mr Gildor Milverton. He's Dutch, from the Netherlands. Cool, isn't it? And guess what? He is a Tulip trader!"

"Hello Miss Hudson! Indeed, you are a bright young girl, just as your mother said. Nice to meet you!" Mr Milverton was rather talkative, I decided.

I did a polite nod. "Nice to meet you too, Mr Milverton."

"Indeed, indeed! She shall grow up to be a fair lady, Mrs Hudson!" He laughed a loud, dwarf-ish laugh. "I should get going. I see you are busy, Elanor. See you soon!" He left as suddenly as he appeared in my house. A man with remarkable peculiarity, I observed. Plus a touch of creepiness, from the laughter. And what was even worse about it was that Mom obviously likes him. Not sure of the word 'love', so 'like' seems to fit this situation.

"Mom, is he going to be my stepfather?"

I got a nice, scary stare in return.

A week passed since my knowledge of this man who seemed much closer with my mother than I imagined. I still don't like him, but this crap was not what I expected. Other that chatting about tulips, their second-favourite topic was cancer. Recnacdo Ol' Berara, mostly. The Dutch Tulip Man has eccentric ideas on how to cure cancer, though I am not exactly sure whether it would work. His curious ways include weird plants and grass I have never heard of before, and other things that I shall never understand the meaning of. Recnacdo Ol' Berara is an extremely rare cancer with only 5 patients known. It is a type of leukemia, but leukemia is way more vicious. I am luckier than most leukemia patients. The only worse thing about getting Recnacdo Ol' Berara is that all symptoms happen all of a sudden, without accurate warnings on the future. The life expectancy was based on the first person who had the unfortunate fate of getting this illness unknown to the world. Number One died in four years. And tell you what, I am Number Two. The next human being expected to die due to ROB is me. I was extremely thankful for the Dutch Tulip Man to share his special ideas with me, but I do not expect any of those to really work. In fact, I only believe in one man to cure my rare cancer, and he is Recnacdo Ol' Berara himself. As you can see, this mad scientist named this cancer he discovered after himself. A very weird thing to do, I'd say. That's why I never say "Fuck Recnacdo Ol' Berara!" like people usually say "Fuck Cancer!", the meaning of fucking these two are completely different.

The check-up a week ago was a very saddening and yet predictable one. No miracles appeared. My mother wept again in the hospital when she was reminded about my death. This, again, is the side effect of cancer – the emotions of people around you. I have one trip around the sun left. I am withering.

Therefore, I have to work quickly. I need to get the Foundation done before I reach my grave. I went to the computer and searched for the information about setting up a foundation. Within a week, I got the preparing done. The Foundation shall be set up for funding and hosting activities and all cancer patients and healthy people are welcomed. However, only cancer patients are allowed for certain activities. This would make them feel special, making this Foundation more meaningful. The Foundation should focus more on the quality instead of quantity of members. All these plans are rather blank, but you'll see when Jake and Claire return from their trip to Hong Kong. The twins are my close friends who promised to help. Moreover, they are pure crazy and creative so working in a group with them will certainly be more productive than ever. I will leave the planning of activities and the drawing of logo for them. I just hope they'll do better than drawing watery poo and puke for the logo. Their wild imagination never ceases to amaze me.

On 14th January, the game was on. I woke up at 10am and set out to hand in the documents to the Government Office.


	3. Ch 2

Chapter Two

It was a bitter cold morning. My thick clothes were hardly enough to keep me warm. I walked across a football field. The grass was not as green as it usually was, but they were alive. _Yes, still alive._ Just like I was – cold, battered and withering, but still alive. I inhaled the freezing air, standing still._ I am still alive._ I looked around me. The world was alive, too.

That was when I felt the world spinning. I inhaled again. I cannot breathe. Only little oxygen slipped through my trachea and into my lungs. I inhaled again with all my might. _Useless._ I felt myself tear up uncontrollably, and let out a moan of pain and of agony. I could not see a thing. Images were blurred specks of colours. _Voices._ There were people around me, speaking. Their voices, though, were covered by the sounds of my own breathing. _Thump._ I landed on my back. I struggled to keep my eyes open, I tried to sit up. _Fall._ I felt a sharp pain from the back of my head. I failed to control over my own body. _It was useless. All the effort. They were pointless. Pain demands to be felt._ I looked up at the blue sky and closed my eyes shut almost immediately. The risen sun was too bright for my losing eyes.

"Anna!"

I woke. There was hospital stuff all over me. My mother, the Dutch Tulip Man (why the hell is he here) and Mr. Ol' Berara was next to me.

I am not dead.

Ten minutes later, I was out of bed, alive and walking.

"Miss Hudson! Come over here please, young lady! I've got a thing!" Recnacdo Ol' Berara was chasing after me in the hospital corridors.

"What thing?"

He grinned. "A new thing." I knew at once that the 'thing' meant 'hope to survive'.

"What coincidence! I fainted in a football field, slept for five hours, nearly died, and now I might survive!" I said, feeling a fire burning inside me. _The leaping flames of hope._

"Hell yes you are!"Said the Professor. "Now come to my lab, I'm gonna show you _the thing_! Come on, allons-y!"

I laughed. Doctor Who reference.

A thick book landed on the desktop with a _thump_. Professor Recnacdo Ol' Berara turned the pages and ended up on one with a big unpronounceable word on it.

"Mellosukiaefellwering." He said dramatically. "No idea why this word is pronounced this way but this might be the key to your survival."

"This plant has a very strong odour, and is certainly very active to most chemicals. This curious plant is newly discovered in the tropical rainforest by Sir Daniel Marvel, that botanist on telly, you see. That man is an old friend of mine, and upon discovery, this thing has precisely the qualities (now known) needed to cure ROB." He continued. "However, as you know, there were too many unknown things about your cancer, Anna. Plus, we have no other patients willing to try the new medicine made with the Mello-whatever, let alone successful examples. So, I am sorry to say, the pioneer/guinea pig has to be you, unless you choose to just die."

I smiled. I did not have the need to hesitate. "You knew all along that I would not ignore your most gracious offer."The old man grinned. "How long would it take to finish your tests and stuff and make the medicine for the treatment?"

"That'll be pretty quick. Five weeks? Five months?"

I frowned. "Man, just tell me 'unclear' if you do not have an expected date."

We laughed.


	4. Ch 3

Chapter Three

"Anna, sweetheart, I have good news for you!" My mother was very happy.

I sighed and smiled. She walked over to my bed and placed and envelope into my hands.

"O…Open…" I said. Five months passed like a moment. And the change? There were lots and lots to tell. Firstly, and the most obviously, I was pretty stuck in the hospital. I had breathing difficulties so frequently that I had to stay in the hospital bed tied up with tubes and apparatus. I became very, very weak. I could hardly speak, and I can only stand up and walk with the assistance of a walking-stick. Pain demands to be felt. It was the truth covered by the millions of optimistic lies I have heard from people including myself. Secondly, my mother would soon become Mrs Dutch Tulip Man. I did not really trust him, but I trusted my mother. In spite of the fact that I am sure the Dutch Tulip Man isn't Dutch, since Dutch men usually likes watching TV and dislikes fast food, I believe that a mother who could cope with a ridiculous daughter with a heart-breaking fate is strong enough handle her love life well. And last but not least, the Anna Foundation for People with Cancer Who Wants to cure Cholera was at its adolescence! Once I found out my health was not cooperative enough I gave the job to Jake and Claire. They were amazing. Now, I am in the hospital, waiting for the new _thing_ to enter my bloodstream.

Mom opened the envelope. A cheque and a letter were inside it. I peered at the number written on the cheque and felt my jaw drop. My eyes reached the sender of this cheque. It was Christine! Christine from the hospital! I knew she was rich and a miracle fell upon her when she was still sick but…! I was very surprised she would send so much money to the Foundation!

The machine attached to my wrist beeped. Recnacdo Ol' Berara walked in and smiled. "I see you have a great thing for your foundation, Anna!"

I was too weak to say anything. I was glad to see I have such a lovely surprise before I


End file.
